Catchment Invertebrate Fingerprinting Study by TICP

Test & Itchen Catchment

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Introduction

Invertebrate Fingerprinting Study

CATCHMENT INVERTEBRATE FINGERPRINTING STUDY Invertebrate Fingerprinting:

Catchment Invertebrate Fingerprinting (CIF) Study:

The evaluation of invertebrate communities living in a river or stream is one of the best methods available for assessing the impacts of environmental stress on the health of an

The CIF study is examining the responses of aquatic invertebrate communities, throughout the river catchments of Wessex, to four environmental stresses;

aquatic ecosystem. Invertebrates that spend all, or part, of their lifecycle living in a river are constantly exposed to changes in the structural composition of the river bed, in the volume

sedimentation, phosphate pollution, organic pollution and low-flow impacts.

of water in the river and in the chemical composition of the water flowing over them.

The first phase of the study examined historic invertebrate sampling data,

To assess the health of the invertebrate communities in a river, samples are collected using a standardised method and the organisms found are identified to the taxonomic level of

supplied by the Environment Agency. The community structure at each sampling site was analysed, essentially to family level*, for four biometric

family or species. In addition, the approximate abundance of each group found in the sample is also recorded and this combined data is used to calculate so-called biotic

indices: PSI (fine sediment), TRPI (total reactive phosphorous index), Saprobic (organic pollution) and LIFE (low-flow impacts).

indices, which are used to draw conclusions about the condition of the river and to make comparisons between sites on the same or different rivers.!!

For each of the indices, an invertebrate group is allocated a score according to

its sensitivity to the particular environmental stressor. When a river becomes polluted the most sensitive and highest scoring groups are the first to be lost and the average score falls. Where the average score of the groups found is high, it indicates that the most sensitive groups are present in the river and that, by inference, the pollution levels are low. The second phase of the study used the same set of biometric indices to provide a more detailed examination, at the species level, of a smaller number samples which were taken by the WCSRT and the Environment Agency, at targeted sites, during autumn 2014 and spring 2015. This booklet looks at each of the four environmental stress signatures individually and maps the results of the first phase analysis and the more detailed species level analysis. Together the results help provide an overall picture of water quality across the Test and Itchen catchment. *The latter part of the EA data period, will have contained some species data which means our analysis will have provided some mixed family/species biometric predictions (as RICT does). !

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Infrastructure regulating the service

Recreation

Southampton Water.The data presented here gives flavour of the infrastructure that exists – public rights of way remain to be mapped, but will allow the

Notes

Nature reserves

National Nature Reserves (NNR) and Local Nature Reserves (LNR) are the best sites in England for seeing wildlife.

NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

Access Land NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

levels of access to greenspace/open spaces to be assessed in more detail. ! Publically accessible woodlands !"#$%&'()'#(*+,-)&'./#0'*")'1#/)2*/3' 4#00,22,#-'#/'5##&%+-&'6/$2*

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Data / information

English heritage GIS website

People can access ‘open access land’ or ‘access land’ across Britain without using Public Rights of Way Woodlands with public access can be mapped using data from the Forestry Commission. The English Heritage 'Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England‘ currently identifies over 1,600 sites assessed to be of national importance.

www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Lakes & reservoirs OS Open Data - Strategi

Designated Bathing Waters EA dataset from Geostore www.geostore.com/environment-agency

Accessible heritage sites English heritage GIS website www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Urban areas OS Open Data - Strategi

Larger waterbodies are popular recreational resources (blue spaces) for people wanting to do water sports, angling, swimming etc. A bathing water is one where a large number of people ~100 people) are expected to bathe at any one time. Many World Heritage Sites/Landscapes and Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) have public access. Urban areas themselves are key recreational spaces. 56B$1C!$D&''$D&2B$/0$/#'-$1"("$E$$ 9:::;2&)-"-%'+*&<'=;%2;*>?2#'-)"(")2:-@2")A$

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Notes

Public Rights of Way (PROW)

Includes footpaths, permissive paths & bridle paths.

South East RiverCycle Basin District routes & long

Important recreational infrastructure.

distance paths Minor roads, tracks and paths

Important recreational infrastructure for walking, cycling etc.

Point attractions

Features & morphology

Open spaces, green spaces and blue spaces

Infrastructure regulating service

The Test and Itchen catchment covers an area of ~1760 sq. km and contains two rivers that are widely considered to be challenge in assessing the rise provision of resources accessible land Ashe for recreation and cultural activities is mapping the amongst the finest The chalkbiggest streams in the world. Both rivers from springs on theand chalk downs near and Hinton current provision those reaches opportunities the are landscape catchment examine the is way that these opportunities were Ampner, respectively. The upper andofmiddle of the across catchment predominantly ruraland andtothe landscape and managed. Only when this assessment been made cantothe level of tertiary provision be assessed and compared to the level characterised by theaccessed underlying chalk geology. Through the lower reacheshas both rivers begin flow over geology that I required by areas, the residential and Eastleigh business and communities. and into the more heavily populated of Romsey, Southampton, before reaching a shared estuary in

Data / information

Notes

Car parks

Important recreational infrastructure.

OS Open Data - Strategi

Accommodation

Important recreational infrastructure.

Heritage/historical interest attractions

Important recreational infrastructure.

Catchment Overview

TEST & ITCHEN CATCHMENT: Principal catchment features

Infrastructure regulating the service Geology & soils

Soil typology Infrastructure regulating service

Open spaces, green spaces and blue spaces

Soil is the medium in which plants grow and is a vital habitat that supports a huge diversity of animal 4 Thespecies biggestand challenge in assessing the provision of resources and accessible forand recreation and cultural activities is mapping the micro-organisms. Fertile soil is critical for the production of food, land timber fibre, and it is current provision of those theprosperity. landscapeSoils catchment and tothe examine theofway therefore essential for ouropportunities survival and across economic also influence character our that these opportunities were

Notes

Nature reserves

National Nature Reserves (NNR) and Local Nature Reserves (LNR) are the best sites in England for seeing wildlife.

NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

The data presented here gives flavour of the infrastructure that exists – public rights of way remain to be mapped, but will allow the

NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

Access Land

levels of access to greenspace/open spaces to be assessed in more detail. ! Publically accessible woodlands

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Data / information

accessed and managed. has been made can the level of provision assessed and compared to the level local landscapes and Only play when a keythis roleassessment in the regulation of environmental services such as be nutrient thatcycling, I required by quality, the residential andregulation business and communities. water water flow carbon storage.

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Public open spaces (parks & gardens) & other visitor attractions (open farms, leisure parks) English heritage GIS website

www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Lakes & reservoirs

Larger waterbodies are popular recreational resources (blue spaces) for people wanting to do water sports, angling, swimming etc.

OS Open Data - Strategi

Designated Bathing Waters EA dataset from Geostore www.geostore.com/environment-agency

Accessible heritage sites English heritage GIS website www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Urban areas

A bathing water is one where a large number of people ~100 people) are expected to bathe at any one time. Many World Heritage Sites/Landscapes and Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) have public access. Urban areas themselves are key recreational spaces.

OS Open Data - Strategi

Linear features

Bedrock GeologyNotes

Data / information

Geological maps are of potential use to a wide

Public Rights of Way range of people (PROW)

Includes footpaths, permissive paths &

with both interests bridle paths. in planning and development, oil and gas (including shale gas) Cycle routes & long Important recreational infrastructure.

Recreation Overview

reserves, distance paths water

and mineral resources (especially

groundwater), waste Important disposalrecreational sites, utilities, Minor roads, tracks and infrastructure for paths walking, cycling insurance; etc. transport, geo-hazards and property as well as academic interests such as the Earth’s geological history, its fossils, and its landscape Point attractions development.

Data / information

Notes

Car parks

Important recreational infrastructure.

OS Open Data - Strategi

Accommodation

Important recreational infrastructure.

Heritage/historical interest attractions

Important recreational infrastructure.

Under DEFRA’s previous Environmental Stewardship there were three tiers of agri-environment schemes biggestand challenge in assessing the provision of resources accessible land for recreation and cultural activities is mapping the available The to farmers landowners; Entry Level Stewardship, Organic and Entry Level Stewardship and Higher current provision of those opportunities across the landscape catchment and to examine the way that these opportunities were Level Stewardship.

accessed and managed. Only when this assessment has been made can the level of provision be assessed and compared to the level The data represented below shows the take-up of Environmental Stewardship for the Test and Itchen catchment. that I required by the residential and business communities. The map illustrates the wide coverage of agreements, particularly apparent is the large proportion of the data presented gives flavour of the infrastructure that exists public rightsagreements. of way remain to be mapped, but will allow the headwaterThe catchments and thehere riparian zone that are managed under Higher Level–Stewardship

Open spaces, green spaces and blue spaces Data / information

Notes

Nature reserves

National Nature Reserves (NNR) and Local Nature Reserves (LNR) are the best sites in England for seeing wildlife.

NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

Access Land NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

levels of access to greenspace/open spaces to be assessed in more detail. !

Publically accessible woodlands !"#$%&'()'#(*+,-)&'./#0'*")'1#/)2*/3' 4#00,22,#-'#/'5##&%+-&'6/$2*

Public open spaces (parks & gardens) & other visitor attractions (open farms, leisure parks)

English heritage GIS website

People can access ‘open access land’ or ‘access land’ across Britain without using Public Rights of Way

Agriculture

Infrastructure regulating the service

Environmental Stewardship Agreements Infrastructure regulating service

Woodlands with public access can be mapped using data from the Forestry Commission. The English Heritage 'Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England‘ currently identifies over 1,600 sites assessed to be of national importance.

www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Lakes & reservoirs OS Open Data - Strategi

Designated Bathing Waters EA dataset from Geostore www.geostore.com/environment-agency

Accessible heritage sites English heritage GIS website www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Urban areas OS Open Data - Strategi

Linear features

Agricultural practices

Data / information

Notes

Public Rights of Way (PROW)

Includes footpaths, permissive paths & bridle paths.

Minorofroads, tracksand andintensity Important recreational infrastructure for the services we need. An indication the types of farming practice undertaken cycling etc. across the catchment landscapepaths can be gained by lookingwalking, at Agricultural Census data. The

AgCensus includes information on farm type (up until 2000) and the overall statistics for livestock or arable farming practices also be sub-divided into all of the individual types Pointcan attractions

of activity undertaken to determine where certain farming activities are occurring and to Data / information Notes what intensity across the landscape. Car parks

Important recreational infrastructure.

OS Open Data - Strategi

Accommodation

Important recreational infrastructure.

Heritage/historical interest attractions

Important recreational infrastructure.

Overview

Recreation

The agricultural activities undertaken in a catchment oftenImportant define the character of the rural Cycle routes & long recreational infrastructure. distanceimpact paths on the environment and its ability to provide landscape and can have a significant

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SEDIMENT

Sediment â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sedimentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is the mineral and organic material that is eroded, from all across a catchment (source), transported via rills, gullies, drains etc (pathway) and eventually deposited into the river network (receptor). Naturally occurring sediment is an important part of a healthy river system and is an essential component of many aquatic ecosystems. However, problems arise when human activity increases the amount of sediment entering the watercourse, impacting on the riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural processes.

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What is the problem?

What are the solutions?

Increased levels of sediment can have a number of impacts on our river catchments. In particular, sediment is known to damage Aquatic Ecosystems by blocking light to aquatic plants, clogging the gills of fish and smothering benthic habitats, suffocating the

There are a range of well established measures for reducing sediment loads entering rivers and streams. These measures are primarily aimed at mitigating the availability of sediment sources, decreasing the likelihood of material being

organisms and eggs that reside in the substrate. Similarly, sediment is often a contributor to increased nutrients and chemical contaminants that can cause Water

mobilised and disconnecting pathways via which particulate matter (mainly soil) is carried to watercourses. In the Test & Itchen catchment there are mechanisms to

Pollution and impact on the provision of clean Drinking Water, increasing the associated costs of water treatment and price to the consumer. Sediment is also known

deliver these mitigation measures, including initiatives that assist landowners with improving land use and soil management to deliver benefits to farm businesses as

to impact on Flood Risk, reducing the rivers carrying capacity of water and slowing down and in some extreme cases blocking conveyance through the river catchment.

well as the environment. Further information and advice for landowners is available from:

Finally, chalk river catchments are renowned for the amenity value they provide for recreational angling and the associated economic benefits that this delivers. Fisheries, Salmon stocks in particular, are vulnerable to the impacts of sediment on water quality and spawning habitats.

Sediment

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Contact: Rupert Kelton Catchment Officer, Test & Itchen Email: rupert.kelton@wcsrt.org.uk

NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

Sediment Family Results levels– of accessLevel to greenspace/open spaces to be assessed in more detail. !

In map 2, some reaches of both rivers show increasing biological signatures for sediment stress (red arrows) and some reaches of these rivers also show decreasing fingerprints (blue arrows) for sedimentation over time. Some of these increasing signatures for sedimentation will have been associated with population expansion plus the

Publically accessible woodlands !"#$%&'()'#(*+,-)&'./#0'*")'1#/)2*/3' 4#00,22,#-'#/'5##&%+-&'6/$2*

associated human pressures on the rivers in the form of e.g. agriculture, abstraction, discharges and both manmade and natural bank erosion. In map 1, there remains today a mix of slightly impacted to impacted biological

Public open spaces (parks & gardens) & other visitor attractions (open farms, leisure parks)

signatures of sedimentation in the Rivers Test and Itchen. Here greater sediment impacts are evident towards the mouth of these rivers as accumulating sediment inputs away from the headwaters and natural gradient or hydrogeomorphology encourages deposition of greater sediment load in the river beds.

English heritage GIS website

People can acces or ‘access land’ a using Public Righ

CIF Study: Family Level Results

Access Land

The data presented here gives flavour of the infrastructure that exists – public rights of way remain to be mapped, but will allow the

Woodlands with p mapped using da Commission.

The English Herit Historic Parks an historic interest in identifies over 1,6 be of national imp

www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Lakes & reservoirs OS Open Data - Strategi

Designated Bathing Waters EA dataset from Geostore www.geostore.com/environment-agency

Accessible heritage sites English heritage GIS website www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Urban areas OS Open Data - Strategi

Larger waterbodie recreational resou people wanting to angling, swimmin

A bathing water is number of people expected to bathe

Many World Herit and Scheduled A (SAMs) have pub

Urban areas them recreational spac

Linear features Notes

Public Rights of Way (PROW)

Includes footpath bridle paths.

Cycle routes & long distance paths

Important recreat

Minor roads, tracks and paths

Important recreat walking, cycling e

Point attractions

Index: Proportion of Sediment-sensitive Invertebrates (PSI)

Sediment

Data / information

Data / information Notes Extence et. al. (2010) proposed the use of a sediment-sensitive macro-invertebrate metric, PSI (Proportion of Sediment-sensitive Invertebrates) which can act as a proxy to describe temporal and Car parks Important recreat spatial suspended sediment ecological impacts on a river catchment scale.

OS Open Data - Strategi

The PSI score describes the percentage of sediment-sensitive taxa present in a kick/sweep net sample Accommodation Important recreat and the metric is calculated using scores for the differing invertebrate groups. Heritage/historical interest Important recreat PSI scores range from 0 (entirely silted river bed) to 100 (entirely silt-free river bed). attractions

The targeted investigational surveys for the biological signatures of sediment stress shown in map 3 and 4 indicated a number of essentially sediment un-impacted or only slightly impacted reaches and a number of localised potential sources of sedimentation in these rivers with moderately to impacted sediment conditions.

Spring 2015

English heritage GIS websi

www.services.english-herita NMRDataDownload/

These and larger scale species level fingerprinting of these rivers has shown that moderately to impacted sediment signatures do not associate with good riverfly species richness and abundance at the base of these fishery food chains.

Lakes & reservoirs OS Open Data - Strategi

Autumn 2014

Designated Bathing

EA dataset from Geostore www.geostore.com/environmen

Accessible heritage

English heritage GIS websi

www.services.english-herita NMRDataDownload/

Urban areas

OS Open Data - Strategi

Linear features Data / information

Public Rights of Wa (PROW)

Cycle routes & long distance paths

Minor roads, tracks paths

Point attractions

Sediment

CIF Study: Species Level Results

Sediment â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Species Level Results

Public open spaces & gardens) & other attractions (open fa leisure parks)

Amongst the riverflies particularly sensitive to sediment are some of the iconic species found in these chalk streams e.g. Southern Iron Blue (Baetis niger) Data / information

Car parks

OS Open Data - Strategi

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PHOSPHATE

Phosphate

What is the problem?

is essential to human, animal and plant life. It is a fundamental component of a healthy water environment, supporting aquatic plants which produce oxygen and create habitats

Human activity within our river catchments can cause an increase in the accumulation of commercially produced phosphate in the freshwater environment. This leads to unbalanced and uncontrolled growth of aquatic plants and algae in a

needed by other aquatic organisms, such as invertebrates and fish. However, phosphate is also commercially processed and used in many cleaning, industrial and agricultural

process known as ‘eutrophication’. Algae are dying and decomposing over short timescales all the time, both under natural and eutrophic conditions. However,

production processes. Excess phosphate acts as a pollutant and although it can’t be seen in the water, it makes its presence plain by triggering algal blooms.

where particularly high biomasses of plants and algae are rapidly decomposed by oxygen-consuming bacteria a 'sag' in dissolved oxygen can occur, limiting survival

Phosphate is a naturally occurring compound derived from phosphorus, a mineral which

There are many potential sources of phosphate in river catchments; including diffuse sources such as fertiliser applied to agricultural land, sewage discharges, domestic

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of sensitive invertebrates and fish while compromising the ecological health of the watercourse. The problem can also have detrimental effects on the supply of water

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waste water and agricultural point sources such as cress farms and slurry stores.

What are the solutions? Tighter regulation has led to activity from water companies, cress farmers and the farming industry to address some of the major sources of phosphate. However, large numbers of small sources from domestic waste water and septic tanks are still a significant problem. Householders can help reduce their impact on the water environment by using low phosphate or phosphate free products and ensuring septic tanks are properly maintained. Diffuse agricultural sources of phosphate are still a significant issue but there are a number of well established soil, land and fertiliser management solutions available to help improve farm business efficiencies and reduce the impact of farming

Phosphate

activities on the environment. For further information, contact: Test & Itchen Catchment Partnership Contact: Ali Morse – HIWWT Contact: Rupert Kelton – WCSRT www.ticp.org.uk

In map 2, some reaches of the River Test and the River Itchen show increasing biological signatures for phosphate Infrastructure regulating service stress (red arrows) and some reaches of these rivers also show decreasing fingerprints (blue arrows) for The biggest in of assessing the provision of resources and accessible land for recreation andwith cultural activities is mapping the eutrophication over challenge time. Some these increasing signatures for eutrophication will have been associated current provision of those opportunities across the landscape catchment and to examine the way that these opportunities were population expansion plus the associated human pressures on the rivers in the form of e.g. agriculture, abstraction

accessed In andmap managed. whentoday this assessment has been made to canimpacted the levelbiological of provision be assessed and discharges. 1, thereOnly remains a mix of slightly impacted signatures of and compared to the level that Istress required residential and Itchen. business communities. phosphate in by thethe Rivers Test and Here, like with and potentially associated with the previous sediment the greater eutrophication signatures are evident towards the rights mouthofofway these rivers Thefingerprints, data presented here gives flavour of the infrastructure that exists – public remain to as be mapped, but will allow the accumulating phosphate inputs away from the headwaters encourages the build up of phosphate in the rivers. levels of access to greenspace/open spaces to be assessed in more detail. !

Open spaces, green spaces and blue spaces Notes

Nature reserves

National Nature Reserves (NNR) and Local Nature Reserves (LNR) are the best sites in England for seeing wildlife.

NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

Access Land NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

Publically accessible woodlands !"#$%&'()'#(*+,-)&'./#0'*")'1#/)2*/3' 4#00,22,#-'#/'5##&%+-&'6/$2*

Data / information

Public open spaces (parks & gardens) & other visitor attractions (open farms, leisure parks) English heritage GIS website

www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Lakes & reservoirs OS Open Data - Strategi

Designated Bathing Waters EA dataset from Geostore www.geostore.com/environment-agency

Accessible heritage sites English heritage GIS website www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/ NMRDataDownload/

Urban areas OS Open Data - Strategi

CIF Study: Family Level Results

Phosphate – Family Level Results

Many World Heritage Sites/Landscapes and Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) have public access. Urban areas themselves are key recreational spaces.

Data / information

Notes

Public Rights of Way (PROW)

Includes footpaths, permissive paths & bridle paths.

Cycle routes & long distance paths

Important recreational infrastructure.

Minor roads, tracks and paths

Important recreational infrastructure for walking, cycling etc.

Point attractions

Index: Total Reactive Phosphorous Index (TRPI) Data / information Notes

Eutrophication, the enrichment of waters by nutrients resulting in an array of biological changes, is Car parks Important recreational infrastructure. widespread in the lakes and rivers of industrialised countries. Typical symptoms include algal blooms OS Open Data - Strategi and sometimes enhanced growthAccommodation of higher aquatic plants. A Important new phosphorus index has been developed recreational infrastructure.

by Dr Nick Everall and co-workers where the Total Reactive Phosphorous Index or TRPI, uses sensitive Heritage/historical interest Important recreational infrastructure. invertebrate groupings present in attractions a sample to calculate scores across five groups of invertebrate taxa (A to E, where A taxa are very TRP sensitive through to E taxa which are relatively insensitive).

Phosphate

Linear features

The targeted investigational surveys for the biological signatures of sediment stress shown in maps 3 and 4 indicated a number of essentially phosphate un-impacted or only slightly impacted reaches and a small number of localised potential sources of eutrophication in these rivers with moderately impacted phosphate conditions. The

Spring 2015

CIF Study: Species Level Results

Phosphate â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Species Level Results

Public open space & gardens) & other attractions (open f leisure parks)

English heritage GIS web

www.services.english-her NMRDataDownload/

current and other large scale species level fingerprinting of these rivers has shown that moderately to impacted phosphate signatures do not associate with good riverfly species richness and abundance at the base of these

Lakes & reservoirs

fishery food chains.

OS Open Data - Strategi

Designated Bathin

EA dataset from Geostore www.geostore.com/environme

Accessible heritag

English heritage GIS web

www.services.english-her NMRDataDownload/

Urban areas

OS Open Data - Strategi

Linear features Data / information

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Phosphate

Autumn 2014

Car parks

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ORGANIC POLLUTION

Organic Pollution

What are the solutions?

Organic pollution is caused by human activities which introduce highly degradable

Over the past twenty years there has been a steady reduction in organic pollution, largely due to investment from water companies and improved farming practices

material into the watercourse. Typically, the most common sources of organic pollution are sewage works, sewage misconnections, farm waste and organic fertilisers such as farmyard manure.

from the agricultural sector. Investment from water companies to improve treatment at sewage treatment works is on-going and includes efforts to address sewage misconnections in urban areas. Farmers are required to meet regulations on storing silage and slurry (SSAFO

&'.45'6! +(3(&.,+! Regulations) as well as standards linked to the Basic Payment Scheme, with additional compliance measures for farmers in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs).

What is the problem? Organic pollutants are principally a problem because they increase the activity of aerobic

Organic Pollution

bacteria which decompose organic waste and, in doing so, use up more oxygen from the water as they respire. This increase in Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) puts pressure on other aquatic organisms such as invertebrates and fish which also depend on oxygen for respiration. Organic pollution can also lead to a number of other problems such as physically smothering the stream bed, exacerbating eutrophication where plant communities benefit from residual nutrients left behind after organic material has been decomposed and finally, increased levels of ammonia, which is toxic and harmful to aquatic life.

Advice and support to help farmers meet the various standards and regulations is available through Catchment Sensitive Farming, as well as advice and capital grants to contribute towards capital works including; watercourse fencing, yard infrastructure, cattle tracks and numerous other capital items. Further information is available from: Contact: Samantha Mapes Catchment Officer, Test & Itchen Email: #BCB>DEB8-BF=GH>BDI7B;=>J;B>K8L7J8IM

Publically accessible woodlands

In map 2, most of the reaches of the River Test and the River Itchen show longer-term un-changed or decreasing biological signatures for organic pollution which has resulted from successful control and abatement of the sources of organic inputs to these watercourses over time. In map 1, there remains today a mix of mainly clean or slightly impacted biological signatures of organic enrichment in the Rivers Test and Itchen. There was greater organic enrichment evident in a small number of tributary watercourses towards the mouth of these rivers.

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Organic Pollution

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Index: Saprobic Index

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Saprobic indexing at the species and family level allows for a more revealing insight into the nature and quantum of organic pollution in watercourses than other methods, as it accounts for Car parks species differences in tolerance to organic pollutants (e.g. elevated ammonia and lowering

dissolved oxygen regimes).

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In map 3 and 4, most of the reaches of the River Test and the River Itchen showed clean or slightly impacted biological signatures for organic pollution, as for the relatively recent 2012-2014 fingerprints on the previous page. However, a (green circle) slightly impacted biological signature for organic enrichment is not clean or un-impacted

and represents a mild organic load with BOD typically in the range of 2-6 mg/l. While not by itself a threat to aquatic life these mild organic loads in additive combination with other stresses like sediment and phosphate can

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CIF Study: Species Level Results

Organic Pollution – Species Level Results

& gardens) & other visitor attractions (open farms, leisure parks) English heritage GIS website

quicken the ‘tipping point’ for combined environmental impacts versus a background of clean or un-impacted (blue circle) conditions. It is therefore important to continue to maintain the drive towards controlling and abating organic

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enrichment and pollution in these watercourses. OS Open Data - Strategi

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Organic Pollution

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Autumn 2014

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Amongst the riverflies particularly sensitive to organic pollution are some of the iconic species found in these chalk streams e.g. Yellow Sally (Isoperla grammatica)

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ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSOR 4:

LOW-FLOWS Cracked soil Photo: Terry Freedman

Low-Flows Chalk streams can derive as much as 80% of their annual stream discharge from groundwater, stored in chalk aquifers. Overland flow is therefore only a relatively small component of natural stream flow, meaning that chalk streams benefit from a relatively stable hydrological regime. However, human activity through historic management practices and increasing abstraction have caused changes to the natural flow regime which do not always support a healthy ecology.

What is the problem? Abstraction is the removal of water, permanently or temporarily, from a water body. It can alter the natural flow regime either directly on surface water flows or indirectly by groundwater pumping, depleting groundwater levels. Other human activity which

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In addition to reducing demand and making the abstraction of water more sustainable, there are also a number of opportunities for using natural processes to mitigate the impacts of human activity: River Restoration: Improving river habitats and restoring natural process, e.g. removing impoundments, can help reduce the physical effects of low flows and support

the recovery to a more &'.45'6! functioning ecosystem.

naturally

regulates flow e.g. by physically modifying rivers with impounding structures such as weirs and sluices can similarly alter natural flow regimes. The changes brought about

Wetland Restoration:

by these human activities can have a number of subsequent effects on the in-river ecology, including; increasing sedimentation rates, loss of habitats, loss of in-channel geo-morphological diversity and hindering the passage of migratory fish.

Wetland restoration can increase the attenuation of water, which can benefit

What are the solutions?

groundwater recharge, support summer base flows to rivers and improve water

Abstraction of water is controlled through a licensing system operated by the Environment Agency. Recent changes to this system have seen a drive towards more sustainable abstraction and a regime that meets the environmental obligations set by the Water Framework Directive. Similarly, water companies have responsibility for planning how they can meet future customer demand, whilst maintaining an affordable price and not damaging the environment. Finally, as consumers we are all responsible for saving and using water more efficiently and can seek information and advice from local water companies on improving efficiencies in homes and businesses.

Low-Flows

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quality and sediment retention at some locations. Catchment Management: Changes in land management practices can alter the way water moves through or is retained in the catchment. Similarly, soil management practices can have a significant influence on the volume and rate at which water infiltrates through the catchment.

Flow The – Family Level Results data presented here gives flavour of the infrastructure that exists – public rights of way remain to be mapped, but will allow the In map 2, most of the reaches of the River Test and the River Itchen show increasing biological signatures (red levels of access to greenspace/open spaces to be assessed in more detail. ! arrows) or no change (black crosses) for flow velocity over time. In map 1, there remains today a mix of clean to slightly impacted biological signatures of flow velocity throughout much of the middle to upper Rivers Test and

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Itchen with some flow issues evident in the upper Itchen. There was also flow stress evident in a number of tributary watercourses towards the mouth of the River Test and particularly the River Itchen.

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CIF Study: Family Level Results

accessed and managed. Only when this assessment has been made can the level of provision be assessed and compared to the level that I required by the residential and business communities.

Woodlands with public acc mapped using data from th Commission.

The English Heritage 'Reg Historic Parks and Garden historic interest in England identifies over 1,600 sites be of national importance.

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Flow â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Species Level Results

In map 3 and 4, most of the reaches of the River Test and the River Itchen showed clean or only slightly impacted biological signatures for flow. However, the relatively high rainfall patterns of recent varied summerautumn-winter periods had done much to augment groundwater and maintain flow regimes in these river

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catchments. It is probable that such augmented flows were manifested in the recent biological signatures of flow captured in the 2014-2015 species level stress fingerprinting.

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Summary

CATCHMENT INVERTEBRATE FINGERPRINTING STUDY Summary of Results: The results from the study’s biological signatures, which are associated with reduced riverfly species richness and abundance, indicate that sediment and phosphate in particular

Invertebrate Fingerprinting Study

are causing catchment-wide impacts to the ecological condition of the Test and Itchen. Furthermore, the environmental stress being caused by excessive levels of sediment and

Tackling the problem – a partnership approach: The clean or slightly impacted reaches of our rivers can hold the answers to improving less good stretches and we can generate the best results by working under a catchment management umbrella. In-stream habitat management to enhance habitat quality, targeted agricultural investment, regulatory discharge and abstraction control, planning permissions and litigation may all be required. There is no time for complacency, since the findings from this study and those of other workers show direct links between raised biological signatures of, for

phosphate appears to be exacerbated when combined with low flow conditions.

example, sediment and phosphate stress, with loss of riverflies, both in rivers and in matching controlled laboratory studies.

Where these key environmental stresses of sediment, phosphate, flow and organic enrichment have shown biological signatures at or above moderately impacted then they

Anglers have long recognised the plight of riverflies in some UK rivers and we

associate with impacted ecological condition in those river reaches. These stresses, however, seldom act in isolation and the combined and additive impacts of raised signatures for sediment, phosphate, flow and organic enrichment are found to be greater than the individual stresses. These are also not ‘anecdotal’ impacts since the bands of biological signatures for these stresses relate directly to chemical bands of e.g. ammonia and BOD for organic enrichment and phosphate levels for phosphates. !

are now seeing scientific data to support these concerns. The move towards species-level invertebrate fingerprinting of river samples is key to this understanding. We must all work together to address, in particular, the excessive levels of sediment and phosphate that are impacting the richness and abundance of flylife in these rivers. Experience shows that substantial improvements can be achieved, sometimes at surprisingly little cost, to increase water quality, habitat for flylife, fish and other species and the overall recreational values of chalk streams via collaborative, well-targeted project work. There is much that we can do with a collective mind-set and we owe it to future generations to do so. As with other rivers throughout the UK, the invertebrate stress fingerprints being detected in some reaches of our rivers are reversible: aquatic invertebrate communities have responded well to the control of excess sediment, artificial low-flows, organic and phosphate enrichment and pesticide pollution. The WCSRT would like to thank the following organisations for their generous support:!

ÂŠ Chris Bu?on